Whenever I get a haircut, hairdressers are shocked &
appalled at how my hair is damaged and dry and needs more TLC. They will then proceed to suggest some
rather involved or expensive hair care routine that I should stick to. I find this hilarious, because while
hair is certainly a priority in this hairdresser’s life, and what they’re
saying is probably correct, I so don’t care. Of all the thinking I do, my hair gets a very very tiny
amount of airtime – I shampoo/condition regularly to avoid needing to think
about hair at all. While in the
shower, this is how I decided some people must think about personal
finances. Sure, it makes sense and
it’s nice to save for retirement when you’re in your twenties, but it’s not a
priority and maybe doesn’t seem reasonable when there are so many other things
to do, and other expenses to consider.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, why my hyperbolic
discounting rate is different, and I actually enjoy contributing money to my
retirement accounts (or at least, find it fairly painless & necessary). But it’s interesting to realize that people
in my situation (out of college for about a year and half) are in very
different positions. When you
factor in amount of student loans, different work sectors & salaries,
different educational desires (PhDs vs. masters degrees vs. neva eva going back
to school eva), cost of living & lifestyle choices, there’s an incredible
range of possible outcomes for net worth.
One regular ‘feature’ that I both love and hate in Glamour
magazine is an ‘Are you normal for X’ page with various statistics and numbers
about anything from credit cards to sex to dating. It’s interesting to understand where you fall on the
spectrum (yay context – the more numbers, the better). On the other hand, it’s obviously
stupid to concern yourself too much with what everyone else is doing (let’s
face it, a) everyone else might be totally wrong, b) why would you think that
the average American knows better than you what you should be doing). I love getting this kind of financial
info – I’ve been reading a fair number of articles recently on Millennial
shopping patterns & behavior, as it’s relevant for some work I’m doing with
clients. I want that for money, as
well! Despite being a Millennial
myself, it’s certainly hard to get a gauge on how we all feel collectively
about something as loaded as money.
What do you think?
What are (our) Millennial saving/spending patterns like? I’d assume most of us are confused
about personal finances, occasionally annoyed by all our options &lack of objective
and comprehensive information, and wonder if we’re failing at life all the
time. (Hopefully, that’s not just
me.)
I think what you said about everyone being in different places is really true, at least from my perspective. At this point, I make around $600/month and I'm not in a country where I have access to put it in any kind of bank account anyway. But as someone who doesn't really enjoy thinking too hard about money, I would say that I think personal finance should be taught in all high schools as a required course. The more you know about something, the less scary it is.
ReplyDeleteOh man, that is totally something I would love to do -- try to design a curriculum (or write a book) for high school students with what they need to know about personal finance. It's so ridiculous how little people are taught -- things don't need to be complicated, but it's easy to not think about money at all until you end up paying a lot for earlier mistakes, so why not help people avoid that if possible.
Delete